Can't get kart to start

[Hawkster007]

Here's the issue. I can't get my son's kart to start. He was riding it and at some point the battery came off (has happened before when the zip ties broke). So we got the battery and put it back on and not paying close attention, I sat it in backwards. Before attaching the wires, I just wanted to make sure it would still start so I held the wires to the battery and had my son hit the start button. Of course I had the wires backwards on the battery. Instead of turning over, it made a grinding/spinning type noise. I immediately realized I had the battery in backwards and switched the wires to the correct terminal. It fired up fine and my son rode it for another 30-45 min. After that we put it up. I happened to be down in the basement later in the day and decided to try to start it. Nothing. As if the battery was dead but I checked and the battery was fine. I tried bypassing the brake safety (plugging the two wires into each other that go to the brake safety switch). No luck. I took the wires off the ignition button (red button) and tried just touching them together. Nothing. The main fuse looks good (the one shaped like a cylinder in the white housing). I left it in but got continuity with a multi-meter. I can't find any other fuses to check. I'm not sure what the issue could be.

Since it started after the ordeal with the battery being hooked up backwards for a few seconds, I'm wondering if everything is still ok there. I would think that if it would have caused an issue, then it wouldn't have started right afterwards. I'm not sure what else to check.

I read some things about bypassing the solenoid and such. I'm not sure how to do that. I will admit that I'm a newbie at this as it's the first kart I've ever owned and I'm no mechanic at all. I bought it used a couple years ago. My son is having a bunch of his buddies over this upcoming weekend and now it looks like he's not going to have his kart for them to ride on.

If there are any other fuses, that would be a quick easy fix if that's the issue, but I can't find any. Does anyone have any ideas what this could be? Hitting the start button (or touching the two wires together that go to the red button) does nothing. No turning over, no sounds, just nothing at all.

Thanks in advance

[tkeagle]

I'm no expert. But Have had the positive cable hit the frame, while trying to jump it. So pretty much same issue. No fuses blown. This only happened for a few seconds as well.
Turned out, I burned up almost every neg. wire, I had on the thing. A few could have saved, but went ahead and replaced them all. As said, just took a couple seconds for this to happen. I'd go through all your wires, check them all, and make sure they not melted or bare, and grounding out some where. That said, check and make sure you have a very good ground to your system.

[Hawkster007]

Thanks for the reply. It is appreciated.

I was afraid of something like that. I would have no clue where to begin to look at the negative wires or how much the cost/time would be to fix it. I have a screwdriver, wrench, and a multi-meter. Is that all I would need? Any idea on a rough estimate of cost/time? What about the complexity level? Any advice on getting started?

It's a Yerf Dog 3206. Does anyone know if there are any other fuses besides the one in the white casing (cylinder shaped)? I can't seem to find anything online.

Any idea if they could fix this at a cycle/atv shop and what the cost would be?

Thanks again.

[Hawkster007]

Another quick question. It looks like you can get a Predator 212cc engine for around $125. Would that be a tough upgrade and would it be an actual upgrade? I realize the cc is more but is it suited for gokarts? The stock engine on the yerf dog seems overly complex to me (but maybe that's just me not knowing much about them).

So is a Predator 212cc a good idea and any idea on the complexity to switch? Sorry if this is a dumb question.

[Hawkster007]

I'm also wondering if my issue could be the rectifier? Could that be it?

https://www.amazon.com/REGULATOR-REC.../dp/B01MRD30Z6

How would I go about checking to see if it is still working?

[plee911]

The bad news
There is usually only the one fuse on these type of karts.
The regulator has nothing to do with the kart starting

Hooking up the battery backwards probably cooked your wires.
It might not have been noticeable at first but when you superheat the wires like happens when batteries are connected backwards or jumpers short to frame then the wires are still connected at first but as they cool they break and that would explain why it started right away but not later.

Go over your wires especially where the ground wires hook to your motor and frame. Look at your connector plugs I will bet you find a bunch of melted wires and or connectors.

There is a real possibility that other damage was done as well.
CDI, regulator, solenoid, starter and even stator could have been damaged although this is less likely because it was able to start and run afterwards but not impossible.

Re-wiring can be a daunting task (In the middle of a complete rewire myself)
If you don't feel comfortable with the task then I recommend taking it to a trustworthy motorcycle/ATV repair place. Look for a place that does the jap brands Honda, Kawasaki and the like. A Harley or victory shop will most likely not be a welcoming place for you to go.

They will be able to go over the system and locate the problem. If you are not sure get a second opinion.

Most of these engines are based on the Honda GY6 motor and are fairly well known and pretty easy to work on.

But they are very confusing to someone who has no experience with them or these type of motors.

Don't feel bad that's most of us when we arrive on these forums.

As far as cost that will depend on what they find if its just some damaged grounds then it shouldn't cost much.

If it took out other parts the cost will go up depending on what needs replaced.

As an option follow your positive cable up it will run to a round thing with 2 bolts on top of it like in the attached picture. you will need to jump between the 2 bolts with the power on. If the engine cranks, starts, or runs then you have eliminated a lot of possibilities and it is most likely a bad solenoid.


Look it over and let us know what you find.
Im far from an expert and there are a lot of people on here that know way more than I do but this should help you get started sorting it out.


As to the 212 pred swap I unfortunately can not help you there.

[plee911]

One other thing to consider is that the battery is bad.

It may show good voltage with your multi-meter but dump under load and not have the amps to push it. I have had ones that show 12v but were only able to put out .5 amps or less. Wouldn't even cause the solenoid to buzz.

Try jumping from a known good battery and see what happens or pull the battery and have it tested.

If it starts with a different battery then a bad battery or the or the regulator not charging the battery could be your problem.

[Hawkster007]

Thanks for the replies folks. I will try the solenoid jump (with a screwdriver) and see what happens. I take it that all I need to do is lay the screwdriver across the top of the two screws to ensure they are connected.

I should have mentioned in my original post that in the past when I had (or thought I had) a battery issue, I jumped it with the lawnmower. I tried that as well here but still no luck. So I don't believe it's the battery.

[neo71665]

Most likely cooked the wiring. I'm an electrician but these things are really simple to rewire. These things don't ground through the frame like you commonly find but had a ground wire run throughout. The chinese wiring on these are sub par quality at best and don't take much to burn up. They soldered everything and cold solder joints are also really common.



That is for a common fully optioned out buggy, there are some different ones so it might not be correct but it's a start. I suggest either loading it in ms paint or something similar and removing the systems/wires you don't have to make it simpler. Even easier is just print it out and white out the systems/wires you don't have. Mine was very basic (only headlights) and I added everything but blinkers. Frankly I think blinkers on these are just an un-needed load I don't need since I can't make it road legal anyways. I'd rather have my extra lighting and winch.

When I rewired mine I went with 12 awg (the factory is chinese 14 that is more like 16). I also upped the battery cables to 8 gauge. After I done it I found the buggy cranks alot easier and my lights are a tiny bit brighter. Frankly even if I bought a brand new buggy off the showroom I think knowing what I know I would rewire it before I even broke it in.

These are the best sources of factory colored wiring I've found
for tracers
https://www.sherco-auto.com/striped-...cdc3b52a77f2c1
for solid
http://www.genuinedealz.com/marine-w...ire?length=113
You might shop around and find it cheaper but I didn't at the time I redone mine

[OLDKID]

After You fix the problem ....... Don't forget to fix the PROBLEM ...... Proper battery hold down .

[plee911]

Yes you will need to jump the two bolts. This can be done with a screw driver I prefer to use slip joint pliers but that's just me.

If you get nothing at all, the solenoid buzzes or crank is very slow then battery and all wires need to be looked at.

If it cranks just fine then your solenoid or wires to it from starter button may be bad.

Keep in mind that there may not be any obvious wire damage. If wires got cooked they could be cooked in the middle of a run inside the wire loom and you may not see the damage without removing the outer covering.

Also given that the wire is Chinese and not up to American standards then something else you might find is no big damage to the wire just a weird hole or small bubble in the plastic insulation (I have found this on several of the wires I have replaced on mine) The wire blew itself in two inside but the only indication was the small hole/bubble in the insulation.

The multi-meter will help you look for these but a visual inspection may help you find problems or potential problems a little faster.

[BEEFKING69]

Predator swap is not worth the hassle or the cost as youll have 150 in the motor then another 1-300 in the torque converter set up plus paying someone to do the fab work. Grounds are pretty much all green wires on that buggy and the yerfdog spiderbox only has a few wires anyway. Thats the only fuse also and its useless. Here are two wiring diagrams.

Yerf dog spiderbox.....https://www.buggydepot.com/tech-cent...agram-go-kart/

Crossfire 150 (very very similar) https://www.buggydepot.com/tech-cent...iring-diagram/

[tkeagle]

I completely rewired my yerfdog. Really not much cost. I tried to find same color wires as was on there. Just bought a full spool of each. Can get them at any auto store. Auto zone, or what ever. Just a small spool of each. Think like 10 or 20 feet in each. Think there was 3 main wires, rewired. Think was Green, Yellow, Red. And then of course Black. However, I hooked up some extra Led light, and light bar. So I ran 2 extra wires, from the front to back of engine while I was at it. Cant have to many extra power supplies. Always adding something.
Before, I took apart the harness, in the back. The wiring for the engine, I took a lot of pics. Got some tape, and labeled each connection, so I knew where each wire hooked back up to. If not sure where everything goes, I say that is a must. Get some tape, and marker. Label each connection you disconnect, so know exactly where it goes back to. If do that, should have no issues. No such thing as over documenting how the wires originally goes. Pics, labels, videos.
At one point, I had so many wires, disconnected, and not hooked up to anything. Son even asked if I could put it back together. Got everything hooked up, and first try, everything fired right up, and worked. And yes, upgrading the wiring, is very good idea.
The Yerf's are pretty simple when comes to wiring.
And make sure have a good ground to the system.
Really don't cost much to do it. But you will put some labor in it. But in the end, worth it.
Might be some other color wires, you might replace. Don't recall. However, does make it easier to try and match colors close as can, to what was on there.
Any extra wires I added, tried to get away far from the basic color that was on the yerf. Think I used A Blue, and Pink. Don't recall. But I know, if those 2 color wires, come disconnect, or burned out, I know not a necessary part of the Kart running.

[tkeagle]

Here is few pics, when I was doing mine. Looks kind of crazy, but in the end, all turned out pretty good. I added a switch panel up front, to turn on and off all the accessories I added. Light bar, Head lights, Multi blue and red color led lights, and winch. Also, added a block out in the back. Fuse box, so that had a fuse on every wire coming from the back to front. Little over kill, but was happy with out come.
I ran the main wires, through the frame tubing. To make it look clean as could. That is not a must. And was a pain to get right. But did look nice in the end. But again, that is not a must. A lot of extra Work.

Pics are just to show, how crazy it seems it can get. But again, if labeled. And take time, to get all info, before you start. It's all good, putting back together.